Traction City
Traction Cities are vast metropolises built on tiers that move on gigantic wheels or caterpillar tracks. These cities hunt smaller cities (in order to tear them apart for resources and fuel) which in turn hunt towns which in turn hunt villages and static settlements. This practice is known as Municipal Darwinism, which was created by Nicholas Quirke and is based on the evolutionary theories of the ancient philosopher Charles Darwin. Description Traction Cities range in size from enormous metropolises (or Urbivores) with populations of millions, to tiny villages and hamlets propelled by small engines or even s ails. Airships have become the most common method of transport in this new era, as they are the only practical way to travel between cities - actual heavier-than-air aeroplanes became an extinct technology after the Sixty Minute War (although the technology was rediscovered during the war between the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft and Green Storm, it was never mentioned to be used for anything other than fighting aircraft). Larger cities are usually built on tiers similar to a wedding cake, with the poorer classes living on the lower tiers amongst the tracks and engines, and the higher classes living in mansions and villas at the top of the city. An exception to this was Arkangel, a huge, not very ethical, Ice City. As well as being divided into tiers, there is an outer "shell", and an inner area, close to the engines. The poorer classes live on the outside of the city, while the rich live on the inside where it is warmer. Most cities are urbivorous, and have attachments called "Jaws" to catch prey and drag them into the Gut. Here the prey is stripped, melted down and used as fuel for the predator city. Its inhabitants are integrated into the population of the predator city, or, in less ethical cities, taken as slaves. Not all cities are predatory, however; some (notably Anchorage and Airhaven) are peaceful and make a living by trading. Smaller towns and hamlets (like Speedwell and Stayns) are also often peaceful and survive by trading or mining. Sometimes smaller towns meet in gatherings to trade known as "trading clusters." Types of Traction Cities Land *Predator-Most Traction Cities are Predators, Cities that hunt others for fuel using their Jaws *Mining-Cities that mine for resources, to be burned for fuel or traded *Scavenger-Smaller towns or Suburbs that take from already-captured City wreckage *Pack Predators-Often Suburbs that work together to bring down larger Cities. They also could be working for other Cities, in the case of Harrowbarrow and Manchester *Trading-Towns that trade for fuel with others at Trading Clusters Raft Cities *Predator *Pack Predators *Trading Other *Airhaven-A City frequented bt Tractionists and Anti-Tractionists/Green Storm alike, it is the only City that uses gas-filled balloons to stay in the air. History Traction Cities were first formed by Movement Land Admiral Nicholas Quirke, who was inspired by the ideas of the Scriven (a mutant human species) leader Auric Godshawk who invented huge engines capable of moving large cities. Quirke had to move the city to escape from attackers such as the nomads and also so he could use the moving city to hunt for prey. After the devastation of the Sixty Minute War, the world collapsed into a post apocalyptic state, and immense geological upheaval (such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and glaciers) threatened the world's surviving cities. In order to survive, urban areas were mobilized into vast vehicles that could evade dangerous areas. Naturally this required vast amounts of fuel, and as the earth became stripped of its natural resources, cities resorted to the practice of Municipal Darwinism and began to consume each other for energy. Before the age of the Traction Era, other moving buildings had been created. Around the time of Fever Crumb, the Northern Nomads used moving fortresses. The Traction Cities were soon opposed by the Anti-Traction League, based in Central Asia, which sought to return the Earth to its former state and viewed the inhabitants of the cities as barbarians and savages. Conversely, the Traction Cities also view the Anti-Tractionists as barbarians. Behind the scenes Traction cities in the books are often named after cities in the real world, such as London, Brighton, Anchorage, Paris or Manchester, and sometimes their names have been slightly modified for comedic effect; for example, Tunbridge Wells has been renamed 'Turnbridge Wheels' and Wolverhampton has become 'Wolverinehampton'. This implies the current traction cities were adapted from older static settlements. Philip Reeve stated that when coming up with the concept he was inspired by how his home town of Brighton was "expanding and swallowing up the smaller towns and villages around". List of Traction Cities and Towns *Anchorage *Arkangel *Barcelona *Benghazi *Bordeaux-Mobile *Bremen *Cairo *Chidanagaram *Cittamotore *Cutler's Gulp *Darmstadt *Dortmund *Edinburgh *Gutak *Itzal *Jaegerstadt Ulm *Jagdstadt Magdeburg *Juggernautpur *Kom Ombo *London *Manchester *Milan *Moloch-Maschinenstadt *Motoropolis *Murnau *Omsk *Panzerstadt-Bayreuth *Panzerstadt-Breslau *Panzerstadt-Linz *Panzerstadt-Koblenz *Panzerstadt-Winterthur *Paris *Prague *San Juan De Los Motores *Stamboul *Sydney *Traktionbad Braunschweig *Traktiongrad *Traktiongrad Smolensk *Traktionstadt-Weimar *Xanne-Sandansky *Zanzibar *Zimbra *Zeestadt Gdansk *Crawley *Salthook *El Houl *Gorky *Peripatetiapolis *Purley Spokes *Marlborough *Quirke-Le-Dieu *Salthook *Shuddersfield *Speedwell *Stayns *St Jean Les Quatre-Mille Chevaux *Strole *Wagenhafn *Wantage Sources *''Mortal Engines'' *''Predator's Gold'' *''Infernal Devices'' *''A Darkling Plain'' Category:Types of Traction Cities Category:Tractionists